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A little help for a frenchie ?

Posted by petitcircus@hotmail.fr - Created: 3 years ago

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Hello ! I'm freshy gratuate in tourism and I would like to get an internship in Malta. So I'm looking after someone (english native) to check my english CV and my cover letter (wich is actually the content of the e-mail). Is anyone who can help me ?

I was always told that if you yourself didn't cringe in embarrasment at your own CV then it wasn't going to be much good. Over the top without lying works every time.

Posted by petitcircus@hotmail.fr - 3 years ago

Actually I don't want someone to help me create it, just check it. I've already finished it (by myself). In my CV and cover letter I have chosen the word I am able to use at speaking, but I am not sure about the syntax, that's all.

Posted by Reveuse-918439 - 3 years ago

There are lots of companies in France that specialise in preparing 'anglo-saxon' CVs and helping candidates find jobs in the UK/USA etc. As a freelance translator I work for several of them. It makes sense to submit the best CV you can - the point of a CV is to give prospective employers as clear a picture as possible of what you've done in the past. They know that these CV services exist, and the fact that a candidate has taken the trouble to use one shows they're keen. I think an employer would be naive to simply assume a CV to be entirely the candidate's own work.

Posted by Iguana Rock - 3 years ago

I agree, in part, with AQ although not entirely. There are many people who earn a living from helping people to create CVs. Many years ago I paid for a professional CV. Although I had a lot of accounting/admin/office experience and skills I lacked the ability to reflect those skills on paper so was not able to sell myself as well as I should have. (I tend to under-sell rather than over-sell!). That said, I had to be careful to rein him in a bit as he would have gone a bit overboard on what I was actually capable of and I wanted to be sure the CV was truthful. So, all in all, I would definitely recommend some assistance but just be careful that it truthfully reflects what you are capable of.

Posted by AQ-417490 - 3 years ago

I would not wish to appear unhelpful, but the whole point of a CV is that it needs to be prepared entirely by the person to whom it relates. Recipients of CVs need to be able to evaluate the applicant's ability to put the CV together, as well as the data contained within it.

There are many cases where applicants have attended interviews following submission of their "assisted" CVs and the applicants have found that their performance at the interview fell a long way short of the expectations based on the written CV. This results in disappointment for both the interviewer and the applicant.

The more usual approach to help people with their CVs is "coaching" in the general principles of preparing CVs. This means somebody explaining the purpose of a CV and the information to present in it, together with the order of presentation. To go further than this by editing and modifying a person's CV, changing the spelling or grammar, might be regarded as an attempt to mislead the reader about the abilities of the applicant.

This may sound harsh - and I don't wish, in any way, to harm your prospects, but having had experience in Human Resources, you need to be aware of the potential problems.

In the UK I worked as an editor proofreader, and also used to write CVs for a living. I would be happy to look at your CV and letter and give you my thoughts. If you're interested, email me. I am near Callac in 22.